Railroad track construction

ABSTRACT

A railroad track support structure including elongated members positioned under each rail and connected by cross members. Both the elongated and cross members have rail support sections with rail fastening means attached thereto. The rail support portions and the cross members rest on base portions of the elongated members with the base portions adapted to be supported on conventional ballast.

[ Mar. 11,1975

United States Patent 1 Damy 2,502,281 3/1950 Sann 238/349 RAILROAD TRACK CONSTRUCTION Prot lnventor: Sergio R. Damy, Apartado Postal 39-56, Guadalajara, Mexico Feb. 4, 1974 9/1960 Rigby.............:::::::::::....:::,.238/349 Primary ExaminerLloyd L. King [22] Filed:

Assistant Examiner-Richard A. Bcrtsch Attorney, Agent, or FirmKinzer, Plyer, Dorn & McEachran Appl. No.: 439,099

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Mar. 27, 1973 Mexico [57] ABSTRACT A railroad track support structure including elongated members positioned under each rail and connected by cross members. Both the elongated and cross members have rail support sections with rail fastening means attached thereto. The rail support portions and the cross members rest on base portions of the elongated members with the base portions adapted to be supported on conventional ballast.

9 2 4 R4 M30 1 w ,m 20 9 "3 u 1 8 3 2 n3 m mo mu mmm4 u. 2 u ".8 n3 Hun m m .r 8 "H -l C W 5mm UIF ill 2 oo 555 [ll [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 238/26 2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 238/26 n m I 5 2. Zn i .w QL 300 1 009 NH l 59 1 24 95 47.

RAILROAD TRACK CONSTRUCTION SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention is directed to a railroad track support which may be used to replace the wooden ties, tie plates and spikes presently used in conventional railroad track construction.

An object of this invention is a railroad track support which may be constructed of readily available metal shapes.

Another object is a railroad track support which may be constructed in any desired length.

Another object is a railroad track support which may be constructed in sections and assembled in the desired length on the job site.

Another object is a fastener for connecting a rail to a metal support.

Another object is a rail fastener which may be easily applied to and disconnected from a rail.

Other objects may be found in the following specification, claims and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated more or less diagrammatically in the following drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a railroad track emboding the track support of this invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view on an enlarged scale taken along line 22 of FIG. 1 with parts omitted for clarity of illustration;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view ofa portion of the track support of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 of the drawings shows a railroad track 11 constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention. As is conventional, the track includes a pair of rails 13 which are spaced apart a specified distance in accordance with the gage of the track. The track is supported on ballast I conventionally consisting of pieces of stone. The novel aspects of this invention reside in the construction of the supporting structure 17 located between the rails and the ballast which supporting structure 17 replaces the wooden ties, tie plates and spikes, presently used in most railroad construction.

The supporting structure 17 of this invention includes elongated members 19 one of which is positioned under each rail 13 and extends along the length thereof. Cross members 21 extend between the elongated members 19 at regular intervals and are fastened to the elongated members to hold them in a predetermined lateral spaced relationship. In this embodiment of the invention, the cross members 21 are fastened to the elongated members 19 by welding.

The elongated members 19 each include base portions 25 and rail support portions 27 with the rail support portions projecting above the base portions. One of the features of this invention is that the supporting structure 17 can be formed in sections 31 with each section including a cross member 21 connected to a pair of laterally spaced elongated members 19. In this embodiment of the invention, each elongated member includes four base portions 25 and three rail support portions 27. In a typical section, one base portion of each elongated member is connected to the cross member 21 and rail support portions 27 are connected between adjacent base portions. The base'portions 27 on one elongated member align with the base portions on the other elongated member of a track supporting structure section 31. The supporting structure sections 31 may be fabricated in a shop or other facility and then transported to the railroad track construction site where the sections are welded one to the other to form a continuous track 11 as shown in FIG. 1. While section 31 has been shown in this embodiment having one cross member 21 and three sets of base and rail support portions, it should be understood that other numbers of sets of base and rail support portions may be used.

In this embodiment of the invention, each base portion 25 is formed from an upwardly opening channel having upstanding side walls 35. The side walls 35 extend transversely of the length of the elongated member 19. The side walls 35 are slit at 37 adjacent the lateral ends of the-channel and the ends ofthe channel are bent downwardly to form a ramp like structure 39 at each end of the channel.

A rail support portion 27 which is formed of a channel having downwardly projecting side walls 41 is positioned between each pair of base portions with the side walls 41 of the rail support portion located inside the corresponding side walls 35 of the base portions. The side walls of the base and rail support portions are welded together to form the elongated members 19.-

The surface 43 of the channel which forms the rail support portion is located above the base portion 25 in the assembly elongated member 19. The cross member 21 is also a channel shaped member having side walls 45 which project downwardly. When a cross member is connected to a base portion, the side walls 45 of the cross member are positioned inside the side walls 35 of the base member and these walls are welded together. The surface 47 of the channel, which is now the upper surface of the cross member, lies on the same plane as the surfaces 43 of the rail support portions 27 of the elongated members 19. The spacings between the various rail support portions 27 and the spacing between a rail support portion and a cross member 21 are generally equal.

Rail fastening means 51 are attached to the surfaces 43 and 47 of the rail support portions 27 and cross members 21 respectively. The fastening means on the elongated members and the cross members are aligned to hold rails 13 in position. The fastening means 51 consist of lugs 53 which are welded or otherwise fastened to the surfaces 43 and 47 and spring clips 55 also welded or otherwise fastened to the same surfaces on opposite sides of the rails. In the preferred embodiment of the invention shown herein, the lugs 53 are located on the outside of each rail and the spring clips 55 are positioned on the inside of each rail. Each spring clip is formed in the shape of a loop having one end 57 fastened to either a surface 43 or a surface 47 and a free end 59 with a horizontally extending tab 61 fastened thereto. The free end of the loop is located above the fastened end 57 so that the tab can engage the upper surface of the rail base flange. Usually a rubber pad 65 is positioned between the upper surfaces of the rail support portions and cross members and the base flange of the rail.

THE USE, OPERATION AND FUNCTION OF THIS INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS The track supporting structure section 31 of this invention may be fabricated at a shop or factory and then transported for final assembly into a railroad track 11 on the job site. Each supporting structure section 31 consists of two elongated members 19 joined by a cross member 21 positioned at one end of elongated members. At the construction site, the sections 31 are aligned on ballast l and welded one section to another by interfitting the downwardly projecting side walls 45 ofa cross member 21 with the upstanding side walls 35 of a base portion 25. These channel walls are then welded together. Any desired number of sections 31 are fastened together in this manner. Rubber pads 65 are placed on the rail support surfaces 43 and 47 of the rail support portions 27 and cross members 21 respectively. The rails 13 are then laid on the rubber pads between the lugs 53 and spring clips 55. The rails are then fastened to the base portions and cross members by forcing the tabs attached to the free ends of the spring clips 55 against the inclined base flanges of the rails. This can be accomplished through the use of a sledge hammer or other hammering means to bend the spring clip laterally and force the tab 61 against the inclined base flange of the rail. The spring clip can be disengaged from a rail by use of a conventional prying bar.

What is claimed is:

1. A railroad track support including:

a pair of longitudinally extending members spaced laterally of each other a distance apart equal to the desired spacing of the rails of a railroad track,

said longitudinally extending members each including alternately spaced base and rail support portions with said rail support portions projecting above said base portions,

said rail support portion of each longitudinally extending member being aligned with similar portions of the other longitudinally extending member, at least one cross member extending between and engaging said longitudinally extending membcrs to maintain the lateral spacing of said longitudinally extending members, said cross members including rail support portions, rail fastening means carried by said rail support members of said longitudinally extending members and said cross member, said rail fastening means including lugs and clips fastened to said rail support portions on opposite sides of each rail, each clip extending parallel to a track and being spiral shaped with the outer end of said clip fastened to said rail support portion and the inner end equipped with a laterally projecting tab adapted to the forced into engagement with its rail. 2. The rail road track support of claim 1 in which said laterally projecting tab projects laterally on both sides of said clip. 

1. A railroad track support including: a pair of longitudinally extending members spaced laterally of each other a distance apart equal to the desired spacing of the rails of a railroad track, said longitudinally extending members each including alternately spaced base and rail support portions with said rail support portions projecting above said base portions, said rail support portion of each longitudinally extending member being aligned with similar portions of the other longitudinally extending member, at least one cross member extending between and engaging said longitudinally extending members to maintain the lateral spacing of said longitudinally extending members, said cross members including rail support portions, rail fastening means carried by said rail support members of said longitudinally extending members and said cross member, said rail fastening means including lugs and clips fastened to said rail support portions on opposite sides of each rail, each clip extending parallel to a track and being spiral shaped with the outer end of said clip fastened to said rail support portion and the inner end equipped with a laterally projecting tab adapted to the forced into engagement with its rail.
 1. A railroad track support including: a pair of longitudinally extending members spaced laterally of each other a distance apart equal to the desired spacing of the rails of a railroad track, said longitudinally extending members each including alternately spaced base and rail support portions with said rail support portions projecting above said base portions, said rail support portion of each longitudinally extending member being aligned with similar portions of the other longitudinally extending member, at least one cross member extending between and engaging said longitudinally extending members to maintain the lateral spacing of said longitudinally extending members, said cross members including rail support portions, rail fastening means carried by said rail support members of said longitudinally extending members and said cross member, said rail fastening means including lugs and clips fastened to said rail support portions on opposite sides of each rail, each clip extending parallel to a track and being spiral shaped with the outer end of said clip fastened to said rail support portion and the inner end equipped with a laterally projecting tab adapted to the forced into engagement with its rail. 